Month: September 2017

We were just winding down on my Thursday night with Tatum. Getting our teeth flossed, brushed, and ready for bed. Then Tatum asked me: Doug, could you make me some rainbow glasses? …..uuuh what? You know some rainbow glasses. Wait a minute, we’re going to bed in 15 ya know. Then I’m thinking this must be a test? (are you going to measure up Doug or not?)

OK, we can do this!

We traced around a pair of real glasses on paper. Then we colored in with emphasis on the rainbow!

All we needed to do was cut out and… Ta-Da!

I must have passed the test because the next week the same question: Doug, can you make me some glasses?

Sure!

This time we investigate the art cart for materials. I realize this art cart has EVERYTHING you could possibly ever need for art projects (and many home repair projects too I think). Steph, you should just go into the art cart business – seriously! OK, we find colored pipe cleaners – these things are the coolest!

There is no more crafty artsy person than my dear cousin, Kelly. I learn so much from her with art. She is not only stocked full of supplies, but she has an imagination that lives inside her head and explodes onto her craft. Amazing.

We had the pleasure of hanging out with her and her kiddos, Morgan and Nyla to make some crafty things today.

We got all ready with all Kell’s supplies. Now, what to make?

Nyla got right to work with an idea to draw a night owl.

and voila! Beautiful.

Tot and I made some shadow boxes with little animals inside.

Morgan made an origami cat, her version, morigami!

Kelly made teeny tiny spooky bats in a little black night box.

She had done some crafts earlier

and now I’m inspired. I have so much to learn, but I’m open to all of this fun. I have missed out so much on all this artsy stuff, so I have much to catch up on. We’ll do it, Tot!!

2am. This was the reason. This adorable little poky………MONSTER! OK, that is me getting a bit nuts about this sweet little porcupine. I’m sure he’s not a monster.

But this sweet little poky guy was the reason for me being up at 2am. He gave my child nightmares all night. How? Why? It’s a mystery. All I know is I had a tug at my sheets saying, “Mommy can I sleep with you? I had a nightmare that a porcupine was poking me.”

Really?

Really.

And so, let it be known to never read your child a book about porcupines before bed. It may lead to YOU being up all night too.

We love going to the library. Full of diverse and fun books, the library holds the seeds of ideas for what to order from Amazon!

Well, one such book we discovered was this adorable elephant, Elmer.

I am buying the whole set. Not only does he bask in being different, he’s confident, funny, and so kind. Aha!
So after reading them, and I commenting on the colors, Tatum asks me to draw and she will color.

Okey dokey!

Her coloring is improving.

Then, the teddies of course. This particular Elmer book is about this baby elephant who loses his teddy. Elmer lets him borrow his own teddy until he can help baby find his own teddy.

I had to draw it and let her color.

I’m kind of setting myself up for more work, because every night after we read a story, she wants me to draw something from one of the books, and then she will color it. Fine with me!

Tatum loves to make things. This saves me oodles of money since she seems to be satisfied with homemade gadgets. Hooray!

Take, for example, glasses.

We started with felt, added some clear lenses (coming from a cut up clear pocket protector), and bunches of staples. Flying ace Tot is born.

And they continue to be worn during oatmeal. (she needed to SEE it)

After a few errands, we came back for our craft for the day. Today: A GAME! A match game made from pictures. I chose 24 pictures, developed doubles of them in pocket size, cut them up and found some card stock to mount them.

We took washi tape and decorated them. Then I laminated and cut them.

We got them all set up on the table, ready to find the matches!

After we played our matching game, (she won one and I won one (YES!)), we played with her new balance beam game with beans.
She must figure out how to make them balance from the cards given.

Again, she mastered it. Good math and logic skills at work.

We ended the day with a new pair of spectacles.

Yes, I see Y.O.U with my lil’ eyes.

We definitely laughed a lot today, and we made the most of our fun day!

Down the stairs and headed to the beach! First thing we noticed is that it was not an oven outside. AHHHH.

Cmon honey, Let’s go!!

On the way to hunt for seashells, we stopped to say hello to the birds of paradise

The walk to the beach was glorious. We did not find many shells, but we did get to see the beautiful scenery.

The Hotel Del is always a nice shortcut.

Finally, we stopped for a bagel, and we ended up having the best conversation with this family from Texas. They have just experienced Hurricane Harvey, and the devastation has been monumental. We assured them our prayers and support.

Tatum, meanwhile, was well fed, pleased, and ready to head back to change for the ocean. I was glad we had some time to appreciate our blessings. Meeting the folks from Texas was a reminder to be so grateful.

We headed back, Doug loaded up the cart, and we arrived! One thing I’m grateful for is all the lugging and tugging Doug does to help us. It’s a lot of gear to make sure we are all comfortable. It does not go unnoticed!
Next step: Heaps of sunscreen. Tatum would rather me not pile it on so thick as I cover her neck ever so gently. (Gentler, mommy!)

Better?

Time to build. Tatum kept asking Doug to fetch a pail or two of water for our towers. He kindly kept bringing buckets. Packs the sand, mommy!

Doug had the best idea for me to have a wetsuit so I could enjoy the water. This was brilliant. That way I could be covered from the sun but also stay toasty warm in the water. First, Tatum was to try the board. GO TOT!

She did it!

Big squeeze from Doug

Wait HARK!! What do we hear yonder?

Fighter planes (there is a naval base right near) over and above! Goosebumps. We feel very protected and proud of our country.

Time for mommy and Doug to try the board. She wished us both well!

So fun. I am not as brave as I was when I was much younger, but I still have a blast in the water. And because of my sweetie’s idea, I stayed dry and warm.

I had to join Tot in the sand following the fun. She was making a cake with sandy frosting. Delicioso!

The wind was pretty wicked, so the frisbee did not see much action. When it did, we ran all over the place more than catching it. Definitely we got our exercise.

It was time to say goodbye, so we headed back to La Salsa. Tot was ready for her fish taco.

We played “HI-LO” at the table to talk about our day, the highs and lows. My high, and really all of ours, was being together and enjoying the waves.

Puzzles (Spiderman!), reading and bed followed. We were all pretty pooped!

A full day!

The next morning, we left right after rush hour which in CA, not sure if that exists.
Tatum noticed she had some bags under her eyes.

A little milk does the trick.

For Doug and me, a little coffee did the trick. (or a lot).

Maybe we needed more coffee because our smilers were off. Baby kept on smiling because he loves pictures.

Doug tried seeking out a smile, but he wasn’t kidding us! He was tired too!

Another successful Labor Day Coronado trip. We will see you next year!